AFP machines automatically perform composite manufacturing processes to laminate constituent materials before these materials are cured into composite parts. For example, an AFP machine may be used to form or lay up a complex shape by precisely laying out constituent materials in a predefined pattern. In such a process, the AFP machine dispenses constituent material from bundles of fiber (tows) that are impregnated with a curable resin, and places the tows in pre-defined locations. Tows of fiber may then be consolidated by a roller to build up a laminate ready for further processing, which may include compression/consolidation, removal of volatiles and curing.
During this process, cutters at the AFP machine may cut individual tows as they are dispensed by the AFP machine and laminated in order to position those tows on the composite part. The cutting process itself may involve clamping the tow, cutting the tow, and dispensing a cut portion of the tow onto the composite part. The completed laminate of constituent material may then be heated and/or compressed (e.g., in an autoclave separate from the AFP machine) to cure it into a composite part. A state-of-the-art AFP machine may even cut and start tows of material while it continuously moves across the composite part that it is manufacturing.